Hello there, and welcome to my humble HSR theory/meta blog! Despite the name, you won't find any playstyle meta, but rather, examinations and ruminations of Honkai: Star Rail. Here's a quick and dirty to get started:
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AO3 Archive: HSR Metas
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Not leak/spoiler-free! However, anything that's extremely recent will be tagged and under a read more until a week after a new patch drops, while leaks speculation will be under a read more regardless.
Let's talk about Himeko and Asat Pramad? Let's talk about Himeko and Asat Pramad!
They're alike, so alike it hurts. The obvious part first: their enduring, all-encompassing love for the Trailblaze. It doesn't matter how much time Asat spends calling the Trailblaze a lie, a delusion or a foolish endeavor, that man loved it with all his heart and soul. Still does love it, even after pledging allegiance to the Destruction. Loves it so much he can't even understand what goes through his head. Loves it so much it bled through and reached his daughter, who became the current Navigator. Said daughter who idolized him the most. Idolized Isee the Navigator and still does to this day, even if she's disappointed in Asat Pramad the Lord Ravager.
In fact, she prefers Isee to the more known, more obviously heroic Navigators. She saw his past struggle, his solemn mission amidst tragedy and solitude, his determination to carry on the legacy of the Trailblaze through its darkest hour, and she respects it. In her youth, she longed to be like Isee and drew strength from his tale.
Which brings us to their less obvious similarity: their self-deprecating tendencies. Asat Pramad had massive problems with himself and it's been apparent since his Enroute days. He became unable to find joy in his life, and grew disillusioned with the purpose he once found in the Trailblaze. He thinks it was all in vain, that his struggle amounted to nothing, that he couldn't make a difference in the end. And Himeko? Doomed to die young, doomed to perpetual weakness, doomed to never reach the stars she longed for so hard? She wanted to become a self she had no way of attaining so badly that she drew it upon existence, and then endeavored to at least make that self live the life she couldn't. Just like Isee, she toiled away for a future she had no faith in.
The difference? Himeko managed to do the one thing Asat Pramad never managed to do in his entire existence. She picked herself up.
Unlike Enroute, she never shied away from her childish joys. Instead, she gave them human form, and Motoko, said human form, gave her the push she always needed. Unlike Isee, she never gave up on the Trailblaze, resolving to do her utmost to help the Nameless rise again. Unlike Asat Pramad, who lived by clinging to gods and getting disillusioned with them, Himeko embarked on a godless Path and made herself the master of her destiny.
These two are so... So... Godamn. I don't know what else to say. They're just. Wow.
Was the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae another round of the Phantasmoon Games?
In light of the deluge of information we've gotten these last few patches, pieces of old information have connected seamlessly with the new. Some were easier to discern, such as the links between Voracity and Abundance, while others were harder, like the influence of Voracity upon the Sedition. Now, what does seem incredibly clear to me is the fact that there seems to be a husk of Voracity beneath the Ambrosial Arbor. While the previous two metas do explore this in depth, and while the mythological and game canon point to a sound possibility, what I was missing was the key component: the ritualistic Game that was introduced as a crucial aspect of the Vorcity + Abundance puzzle.
The Phantasmoon Games as a necessity
As Ruan Mei says herself during Arcadia of Terror & Mystery, The Lethe Below the Living, this ritual that involves sealing these husks of Voracity beneath Abundance Plaguemarks like the Panarch Elwood entails using the power of Voracity against itself while Abundance keeps these husks contained. While not all are as clearly defined as the Phantasmoon Games, they all possess the same bones as one another, even if they appear markedly different.
Which is what makes this possibility very interesting, especially when juxtaposed to one of the questions you can ask Asat Pramad during the MSQ of 4.4, In Ravages Does The Whistle Sound, of the truth behind the Phantasmoon Games. While Planarcadia's is very well-defined, it's on the planet of Vonwacq that possesses interesting parallels to the Xianzhou Luofu, both with their own "games."
The "games" of Vonwaq and the Luofu
In the planar ornament, Vonwacq's Island of Birth, of the relic set Sprightly Vonwacq, gives tale of a cycle wherein Vonwaq's own plaguemark, the Thestang Tree, would produce a monster known as a demon king that would not only be reborn every sixty years, but demand that the tribespeople of Vonwacq set aside their conflicts and send their strongest warriors to Wacq Island where they would be forced to face this monster, Supplicants of their own kind. However, this isn't the only instance of a plaguemark producing a similar monster.
In Jingliu's companion quest, Clouds Leave No Trace, and in her 4th character story, we learn of another instance wherein a "demon king" was born: the Half-Draconic Abomination, the failed byproduct Dan Feng and Yingxing's scheme to combine the essences of Dan Feng, the flesh of Shuhu, and the power of the Ambrosial Arbor in a hopeless attempt to try and revive their lost friend, Baiheng.
Now, what's also interesting is the fact that their respective Plaguemarks, the Thestang Tree and the Ambrosial Arbor, are both shown to be capable of similar kinds of creation.
The Alien Tree Seed, a trace item that's said to come from the Thestang Tree, demonstrates the same alchemical properties: it outright tells us that the Thestang Tree combines the genes of different species to create the ideal lifeform (demon king), which isn't a far cry from how the Ambrosial Arbor was utilized in the same, catalystic respect during the Sedition to create the Half-Draconic Abomination, another hybrid, Abundance being.
Both Dan Heng IL's first character story and this conversation with a Mirage Echo in A Dragon Gallant, Its Ocean Distant of Topclouded Towerthrust reveal to us what may have been the first "game" ever performed on the Luofu; not a congregation of warriors or Supplicants, but a regular maintenance of the Ambrosial Arbor that forced Yubie to drastic action, while it became a draining ritual for other High Elders like Dan Feng, an exact echo of the necessary evil these "games" became as Asat told us.
Was Yaoshi the true spreader of Abundance?
Backpedaling to what Ruan Mei said during Arcadia of Mystery & Terror, The Lethe Below the Living, Aha became the arbitrator of Oroboros' remains following the Swarm Disaster and summarily proliferated them across the cosmos, utilizing Abundance Plaguemarks as a stopgap.
Knowing this, however, challenges a long held belief in canon, especially where it concerns the Xianzhou Alliance and what they've believed all 8,000+ years of their existence.
In Ambrosial Arbor's Arrival of Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu, it's basically summed up that when Yaoshi first appeared to the Xianzhou hexafleet, THEY blessed them with the first Plaguemark: the Ambrosial Arbor. However, with the extreme likelihood of a husk of Oroboros sealed beneath the Arbor's roots, it begs the question: was it really Yaoshi that did this?
In the mission summary of Postmodern Imagenesis, A Resounding Gong, what's summarized is the fact that Aha very much stole a Plaguemark, or a plucked branch that was eventually transplanted in the Phantasmoon Courtyard as the capstone to the Voracity interred within the planet.
It may go further, as--given the incredible shape-shifting capabilities of Elation-related beings like Sparkle/Sparxie and Asat Pramad--it may even be possible that Aha disguised THEMSELVES as Yaoshi in order to confer this blessing, not unlike how it's speculated Aha was Nous back in 3.7.
More than that, there's many telltale signs that these "games" were extremely manipulated.
In the Planar Ornament set, Sprightly Vonwacq, a shocking revelation surfaces: a higher civilization had created a control room that became the means by which the planet's games with the so-called "demon king" were orchestrated and controlled, speaking of the sophistication behind its mechanisms. And yet, this isn't the only place this is evident.
Between Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu and Report: A Rare Plant Specimen, like the control room found beneath/within the Thestang Tree, something similar is hinted to exist beneath the Ambrosial Arbor, outright said to be a secret technology. In the report, samples from the Ambrosial Arbor are curiously noted to be bionic in nature, which fits with what we've learned.
Again, in Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu, we're outright told that the Plaguemarks are capable of producing sophisticated technology, such as starskiffs and jade abacuses. Therefore, it would stand to reason that the Thestang Tree and Ambrosial Arbor share technological roots, and if not the Master of Elation personally fleshing out such technology, then it stands to reason the ones behind it may be connected to Aha somehow.
(Of course, this is much harder to prove, but the connection remains glaring, all the same.)
Conclusion
To sum it all up, the chances are low but not zero that the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae, when juxtaposed to the "demon king" games of Vonwacq, may have enough in common to make the possibility, well--possible. And if this were the case, Dan Feng, Jingliu, Yingxing, and Baiheng were all unknowing supplicants to this bloody game. If the case, it remains to be seen if Aha actually found it amusing (Aha is said to be the one laughing during the fight with Phantylia, so might it be connected?).
To those who may or may not have caught it, Asat Pramad actually revealed an incredibly interesting tidbit about Ashveil's Shadow and the past Galaxy Rangers:
Between Ashveil's third character story and the conversation between Tiernan and Acheron in Bullet & Brain, In Our Time, one of the great unknowns is how Tiernan and the other Rangers wound up in the Sea of Nihility. As it so turns out, it's during In Ravages Does the Whistle Sound of the 4.4 MSQ that we finally understand the connection.
Simply put, the vortex that Ashveil summons seems to act as a "portal" into Nihility, which explains how Tiernan and the other Rangers wound up in the Sea of Nihility following Operation Zulo.
Was Ashveil involved in the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae?
It's a strange question to be asking, however, in light of recent developments and my own theories made on the matter (such the connection between Abundance & Voracity) and the trends that have emerged in Planarcadia, there's an extremely curious possibility I think merits investigating.
The reason I'm asking is because, from what we know and are gradually finding out, Ashveil has a curious string of coincidences involving his relationship with the Xianzhou Alliance, several of which make him a little suspect. In exploring this possibility, I'll list factors between what we know concretely, and follow it up with what is likely just pure speculation on my part.
Ashveil's timeline within the Xianzhou
In Real Holy Laughter!, Unraveled at Daybreak, we get our first, real inkling of Ashveil's hinted connection with the Xianzhou. To put it succinctly, Ashveil was involved with the Xianzhou for decades, spanning from when he met Yingxing when he was young, to much later after the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae.
In both Primeval & Other Things, The Lethe Below the Living and in Mortenax Blade's voiceline about him, it gives us clues to a time in Yingxing's formative years when Ashveil was still active as La Mancha that he and his Master, Huaiyan, worked together to create the prosthetic arm that ultimately sealed the Shadow inside of it, and the signature sword-staff/cane that he possesses.
The next instance was told to us directly by Pearl in Real Holy Laughter!, Unraveled at Daybreak wherein she lists some of his feats, one of which includes devouring Shuhu.
For direct context to when this occurred, look no further than Dan Heng IL's second character story that details Baiheng's kamikaze gambit to both save Dan Feng (and Jingliu) and destroy Shuhu, utilizing a power that many now believe may have been Ashveil's due to the specific framing of when exactly Ashveil was said to devoured Shuhu. As you'll see in the linked post, it has screenshots from the 4.1 livestream wherein Ashveil boasts about seeing Yingxing and Huaiyan forge a certain artifact some seven or eight centuries ago, lining up with his believable involvement in the Shuhu Upheaval Period that occurred at around this time.
The last and most notable instance was displayed in Primeval & Other Things, The Lethe Below the Living when Ren undergoes his self-examination and final trial against Shuhu, wherein he revisits a memory with La Mancha who visited him directly after the Sedition, lamenting his incarcerated state and transformation. (In addition, it should be noted that La Mancha stating how "the shadow has tasted the flesh of Abundance within you" may be another piece of evidence that he was involved in the Shuhu Upheaval Period.)
It should also be mentioned that La Mancha being pursued by Cloud Knights in Letters to the Detective may also be telling due to the fact that we don't know if La Mancha was allowed in the Shackling Prison at the time after the Sedition, but what's clear is that the liberation never happened; Yingxing was resigned to atonement, and La Mancha respected that. Still, trespassing can still be a serious crime.
It should also be noted, however, in File Repository: Ally — Rangers that this pursuit might not be as dire as Ashveil interprets it. If connected, then said Cloud Knights might also be a part of those wanting to reach out to the Galaxy Rangers to reestablish an alliance, especially to their leader.
And lastly, while this may be more circumstantial than anything, in Medical Disputes on the Ship of Fools, Welcome to Arcadia, Ashveil's lines here hint that he might've known Dan Feng, as he recognized the surname, but not Dan Heng himself.
Voracity & Resurrection?
Now, the main reason I am asking this question in the first place is specifically because of what was learned in 4.3.
During Arcadia of Mystery and Terror, The Lethe Below the Living, Ashveil congregates with people like March, Ruan Mei, and Tingyun in the Tavern while brainstorming the struggle against Asat Pramad. One of the topics that crops up is the circumstances surrounding the trend that began cropping up after the Swarm Disaster: AHA went out of THEIR way to scatter Oroboros' body like a many-headed hydra, suppressed it with Abundance (like the Planarch Welwood), and siphoned the power of Oroboros' own Path.
As I've gone through before in another meta, it's incredibly likely that this trend found its way aboard the Luofu, as there are many clues hinting to this.
This seems to be the case as told by Evanescia in Postmodern Imagenesis, A Resounding Gong or a Clashing Cymbal, So Laughed the Masses.
It's in Dan Heng IL's first character story that points the strongest to this possibility, that the "maddened and frenzied dragon" may actually be a husk of Oroboros sealed beneath the Ambrosial Arbor's roots. Which leads to another question: if this is the case, could this Oroboros fragment been responsible for the disaster of the Sedition?
What is summarized by Jingliu in her companion quest, Clouds Leave No Trace, doesn't mention Oroboros/Voracity being involved in the process at all. However, I don't think that eliminates the possibility.
In Species of the Galaxy: Wubbaboo and the adventure mission, Floating Grease Chronicles, both hint at the possibility of how the death of a Leviathan becomes the vehicle that begets life, which could be compared to a sunken ship becoming a habitat for sea life to flourish.
Now, it can't be entirely overlooked that the insinuated formula for the Sedition is primarily summarized as Abundance (Shuhu) + Permanence (Transmutation Arcanum) = the Half-Draconic Abomination.
However, through Taoran in Ebb of Past Sins, Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue (II) and the Kind Female Voice in DHIL's companion quest, The Dragon Returns Home, we're reminded that the Transmutation Arcanum is the process or ritual that achieves new life, not necessarily the means alone by which he tried to reincarnate Baiheng.
What's more, the possibility that Long and THEIR Scions (like the Vidyadhara) being related to or descended from Leviathans is a crucial component in understanding the point I'm trying to make. And if anything, informs why Baiheng was revived as the Half-Draconic Abomination.
We learn as much in Jingliu's 4th character story during the Sedition when Dan Feng expresses disbelief that the disaster unfolded so horribly. The anticipated outcome was Abundance (Shuhu) + Permanence (Transmutation Arcanum) = Reviving Baiheng as a new High Elder.
Something extremely similar transpires in Amphoreus in Styxia Fables, Castorice's backstory, in a way, being an allegory to the Sedition and what they tried to achieve in a similar disaster.
Again, in Arcadia of Mystery & Terror, The Lethe Below the Living, like the dragon in Castorice's story was corrupted by the Black Tide, the "maddened and frenzied dragon" below the Ambrosial Arbor, which may very well be a husk of Oroboros, was also corrupted. And with it inevitably being part of the Transmutation Arcanum Dan Feng tried to utilize to bring back Baiheng, instead created the Half-Draconic Abomination.
Yingxing: inspired or helped?
Now, gathering all these pieces of evidence together, you may notice--starkly--that Ashveil had no discernible part to play in the Sedition nor in the creation of the Half-Draconic Abomination. And that is very much the case.
Between the Passerby's Roaming Dragon Bracer of the relic set Passerby of Wandering Cloud, and the Divine Querying Master Smith relic set, Smith's Unbridled Boots, it paints the same, deliberate picture. That both Dan Feng and Yingxing went through with the Sedition, and dearly paid the price for it. However, that doesn't mean I still don't have questions.
In A Dragon Gallant, Its Ocean Distant, of Topclouded Towerthrust, we're met with a highly interesting conversation within a Mirage Echo: that between Yingxing and Dan Feng and the former being allowed inside Scalegorge Waterscape to research a mysterious topic for a few hours. While we never learn what it was he researched specifically, many did and still believe it was related to reviving Baiheng.
Backpedaling to what we know now years later, between Yingxing outright knowing how to handle and seal a husk of Oroboros within Ashveil's prosthetic arm, it informs us of the fact that he likely had awareness of how to deal with a husk of Oroboros, let alone the segment that exists beneath the Luofu's Ambrosial Arbor.
Which begs the question: did Yingxing go forward with this idea, based on his acquaintanceship with La Mancha at the time, in constructing a plan to revive Baiheng, one of his dearest friends? Would this plan have involved the life-creating origination of Oroboros as a Leviathan? For now, we can't know for sure, but the possibility is highly intriguing.
Conclusion
To make a long story short, my thinking behind this is Yingxing's friendship with La Mancha, in making his prosthetic, may have granted him the background necessary to help with Dan Feng's plan to try and resurrect Baiheng. That his unique understanding may have granted him overconfidence in thinking he and Dan Feng could defy the Vidyadhara's destiny and resurrect their friend as a High Elder, even if not as herself.
So no, Ashveil wasn't involved in the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae. But as one thing often leads to another, it does make one wonder if befriending Yingxing may have led to the disaster that would ruin Yingxing decades later.
***Spoiler warning*** for everything after the young Himeko flashback to the end of the story quest. Please don’t read further if you haven’t completed the main mission for yourself.
I know there’s small statues of her placed around the school and a number of people who said Himeko was pretty when she was younger and they’re absolutely correct. Still crazy to think that this is the girl who apparently got into scraps with thugs in the street.
Unfortunately for us, this flashback takes place during the infamous Phantasmoon games that took place fifteen years ago with the Herald of Death, so we’re witnessing.. a whole lot of death alongside our girl. On the bright side, she doesn’t appear to be totally alone, thanks to this voice inside her head that is undeniably Cia’s (regular Himeko. I haven’t a clue if she also voices the younger version or if it’s someone else completely). Usually when there’s ◻️◻️◻️ in the text/recap, the voice is either unrecognizable or totally silent, but during this conversation we can clearly hear our Himeko saying things. It’s strange indeed, but whatever. I wanted to take note of this one line though because we’re very much aware that our Himeko becomes well equipped with that orbital cannon and saw in the future.
This shot is wild and I’m pleasantly stunned that it’s true. We wholeheartedly believed Himeko when she once said she participated in the Phantasmoon games, but who could’ve thought it was as an imagenae, not as a supplicant. That’s assuming young Himeko is the supplicant here, of course. I was about to wonder if imagenae could even enter the Phantasmoon games on their own, but then I remembered Sparxie did, so I guess that’s fair, considering imagenae are counted as civilians of Planarcadia. Makes me wonder though, if young Himeko is the supplicant here, does that really prevent our navigator from entering the Phantasmoon games on her own if she never had her own mask? Or do the rules simply deny her because she and young Himeko are basically one and the same and they won once already? I assume the latter.
It is quite impressive to think that young Himeko managed to defeat the Herald of Death and repair the Astral Express while clearly suffering from the weathering curse, so it’s unsurprising that “Ryusuke” managed to figure out she had to have some sort of help. Finding evidence of two different yet similar lives at home is quite telling too. What I want to know now is, upon me finding out that there’s apparently a law (from readable Imagenae 101: So Simple Even a Ghost Could Get It) that states it’s illegal to create humans through imagenesis.. how are Sparxie and our Himeko allowed in this world? Unless that’s the entire reason why their imagenae status was kept secret this whole time.. or they’re still just considered imagenae and not fully human? I dunno. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it.
Ah.. perhaps the reason why our navigator decided to stay behind during the big boss battle during 4.2 was simply because she didn’t want to deal with this hellish monster again.
Pfftt okay.. creating a giant mech to defeat the Herald of Death is certainly one way to win the games. No doubt that’s the same robot in Himeko Nova’s splash art, yea? Or something similar at least. Love that we see that young Himeko already had the weapon case our Himeko uses now though.
Well, it’s clear Himeko being an imagenae is something she really wanted to keep secret, even from her “father.” But aww, mother has faith in us!
Very unserious question, but.. how does this dude with no head speak? I need to figure out how to make him stop talking because I don’t like the words coming out from his.. mouth.. hand.. wherever.
Aw, we finally get to see Silver Wolf with the mask on! I guess she really didn’t need it last patch when she went lv999 mode, but now that the cartridge has been deemed too dangerous, she needs to get any extra power she possibly can. Thankfully she’s capable of shooting off lasers and using the wings like her 999 form naturally has with the mask.
Unfortunately, we’re still no match against a lord ravager without the lucky lv999 cartridge. Even the restraint check SW tried to place on him failed. Seeing Trailblazer come to her aide is sweet though. Still family in another life!
As expected, Asat Pramad causes Graphia to go full boss mode and turn on us. The fight was easy enough. I think I just had my Elation team, so hearing story SW mention the cartridge was accurate.
I do find it a bit hilarious that after Wolfie made that comment, Blade made his comeback as if he was like “DON’T YOU DARE!” Such a caring father. Kind of a shame they didn’t hold off on his “death” for longer. Feels like we didn’t get enough time to be upset about it, or at least I didn’t. His return with his new Mortenax form was obvious too, but I get that’s the whole point.
As sweet as it is that Blade came rushing in to save us being rammed by Graphia’s deadly Express train, I kinda wish we had a moment where he protected Silver Wolf for an incoming attack instead.
Oh, goodie.. here comes a new challenger!
You did your best, madam. I would’ve been more surprised if a bunch of wishpower was indeed capable of taking down a lord ravager, but there lies the question.. how in the world are we gonna stop that dice man now?
So he’s proficient in shadow clone jutsu huh? Fantastic. What’s worse than one ravager running wild? Multiple. And they’re after our navigator ohhh nooo! We need to assist her NOW! I haven’t lived HI3’s chapter 9 myself and I sure as hell don’t wanna experience the depression that goes with it!
Yesss queen, call him out! This “Ryusuke” has been sketchy since frame one.
Bruh.. I would’ve accepted that Asat Pramad might’ve took control over Ryusuke since we first arrived on Planarcadia, leaving the childhood memories Himeko had of him to be real and true, but you’re telling me this man had been acting as the father the entire time he’s known Himeko?? Good lord.. talk about dedication to the bit. One lie was truly all he needed.. but that’s also incredibly sad for Himeko, learning that she never truly knew her father.
Oh my heart.. this is beautiful. Himeko really set off to keep her promise to her younger self about returning to Planarcadia with many stories to share with her. It’s interesting to see our navigator with markings of the weathering curse on her leg though.. like I know she confirmed she survived it earlier while roaming the halls with “Ryusuke,” as well as our Himeko no longer having such a mark on her model, but why have it in the first place if she’s an imagenae? Wouldn’t young Himeko want to simply create a version of her without the curse? Or am I not understanding how imagenesis works properly? Probably the latter, especially if they share the same things such as memories/experiences/family/etc.
So Asat Pramad attacks our Himeko with flames to confirm she really is a fake, which makes me wonder.. is she not capable of suffering damage as an imagenae? Or are we using Pokemon type logic here and saying fire attacks aren’t effective against her fire element? Or was the attack just a warning shot? Inquiring minds such as me, myself and I would like to know.
So I’m not completely sure if Ashveil was trying to contain the shadow in his arm or actually call upon it to attack Asat Pramad but the power faltered, but what I’m most concerned about during this scene is.. where’s March? Mr. Detective, she’s supposed to be here at the tavern with you.. is she safe? Is she in danger with that Asat Pramad copy nearby? GASP.. are we gonna call upon Evernight to assist?? PLEASE! If that’s the reason why we’re keeping her hidden at this moment in time then I ACCEPT! But the suspense of waiting will end me til next patch. Watch me get my hopes up for nothing.
Regarding those who may need backup, can we go help out mother please?? Whenever we get the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with a lord ravager, it always takes a whole team of us to come out from the battle alive.. not saying that I don’t have faith in Himeko’s strength, but surely she’s can’t possibly take on this mad man 1v1, right??
Seeing her summon a giant mech does bring me some comfort though. Oohhh I can’t wait until we get the Himeko Nova cutscenes.. as long as she doesn’t have to end up seriously injured to obtain her new form like Dan Heng and Trailblazer on multiple occasions. Let’s upgrade painlessly like March did.
Cutting back and forth between the several Asat Pramad fights happening all at once was chaotic, but I loved seeing Yao Guang, DHPT and Welt team up. They were all moving so quick, even grandpa Welt!
We cheer wildly for our reliable Express guard using his power of Preservation to protect his allies. And yes this is one of the biggest reasons why I’m so desperate for Evernight to return. If we can see our Earth demigod in action again, then I wanna reunite with our Time demigod too.
I dunno what kind of craziness Asat Pramad is letting loose inside here, but things are quite literally falling apart. It was pretty cool to see Welt teleport Yao Guang with his black hole and I assume our General intends to save the both of them with that good fortune slip. May weal be upon ye.
I’ll gladly indulge in such surprises.. but you’re making us wait til 4.4!? This is such an insane cliffhanger! Quite literally in the middle of such an intense and action packed cutscene, are you for real?? Fucking hell.. the wait is gonna be painful.
If 4.4 starts off right where we left off here, it’s gonna be insane whiplash. We’ll probably cut to Trailblazer, Silver Wolf and Blade returning to the city in chaos or something first.. or maybe check in on Sunday. I miss him. Hopefully he’s having a nice day of rest while the rest of us are dancing with danger. Anyways, 4.3 was a really solid patch. Loved all the soft Stellaron Hunter family moments, the lore about Himeko and the build up to her Nova form and all the Asat Pramad fights. This may be my favorite Planarcadia patch so far.. yeah. Let’s say that.
SO i made a very loose asat pramad centric timeline, just to get a sense of how this guy lines up with stuff we already know. and. jesus fucking christ
4.3 SPOILERS AHEAD
order of events
enroute, bragi, dorothy, and some other fools fuck around with Oroboros and "steal its shadow"
- i think this is the same as stealing oroboros's taste buds. it's repeatedly mentioned that ashveil's "shadow" is capable of tasting different flavors of path energy.
Ruan Mei: Consider this: What do taste buds provide?
March 7th: Yummy flavors?
Ruan Mei: Precisely.
Ruan Mei: Savoring something's "aftertaste" is an act of "elation."
March 7th: So Aha stole… the original Primum Mobile of the Voracity?
- march speculates that "aha" stole it, but an emanator/pathstrider of elation would be acting in aha's interest, right? like the lord ravagers act for nanook?
- so a group of masked fools stealing a shadow could be the same as aha stealing the voracity's primum mobile
dolly is the navigator of the astral express (idk when she becomes it)
enroute (now named isee), led by his aha-cursed shoes of Being Where No One Fucking Wants Him, joins the astral express
akivili disappears
dolly steps down as navigator. enroute/isee becomes the new express navigator
nanook ascends. isee watches through the telescope
- allegedly, this is what should inspire isee to veer toward Destruction. but then why the fuck does he give ashveil something to HELP him against a lord ravager later on,,,
isee's fucked-up navigator hunger games happens. the express crew dwindles to only two members (presumably Falcon and Isee)
isee leaves the express. falcon amundsen becomes the next navigator
mikhail joins the express
falcon dies. granholm becomes the next navigator
mikhail, tiernan, and razalina stay behind on penacony
so much happens. the majority of penacony's early lore happens.
ashveil's home, kronstadt, is destroyed by Lord Ravager Zulo
ashveil meets isee. isee tells him about oroboros's stolen "shadow"
"According to Isee, it was one of many remnants left behind when the Express first carved paths along the edges of the Cosmos." he is Lying he got that shit as a masked fool
tiernan gets lost while fighting the Swarm with the Lampmoth family. he's rescued by galaxy rangers (ashveil formed the org at some point lol)
the galaxy rangers (inc. ashveil, tiernan, and loretta) fight Zulo a la oroboros's shadow
"I led the Rangers to suppress the shadow and devised the plan to assassinate Zulo. But I never learned why it was there in the first place." MF IT TOOK YOU SO MANY AMBER ERAS TO GET AROUND TO IT....
tiernan can't go back to penacony, so he watches over the sin thirsters who are former rangers
celenova ascends, replacing zulo
isee, now officially Lord Ravager Asat Pramad, shows up on Planarcadia and starts fucking with it. he adopts Graphia, imbues her with Destruction, and shows her how to use Voracity to imaginate or something idfk
the astral express crashes on planarcadia (is this when granholm dies?). this inspires graphia to fight back against the destruction
world in canvas, blah blah blah, literally the majority of planarcadia's known history happens, dw about it
belebog's eternal freeze finally BEGINS, by the way
the ENTIRE high cloud quintet arc happens now, btw
oswaldo schneider's despicable ass colonizes planarcadia and de-canvas-ifies it
a Long Time passes
himeko meets asat pramad at her mother's funeral. asat pramad is pretending to be ryusuke, her father
himeko finds the crashed astral express
herald of death stuff
og himeko dies
fulwish is hella trauma'd
imaginae-himeko becomes the navigator of the now-revived astral express
fulwish gets truman show'd, then leaves the planet and studies in the same school as the Herald of Death. then she comes back and starts fulwish tv and her cult and stuff. asat pramad provides the Shuhu flesh somehow
anyway
this is messy and probably has mistakes. i was just trying to grasp the gist. and My God what a gist it is. i could tell you where amphoreus, penacony, and xianzhou histories fit into all this, but i have yet to figure out precisely where early phantasmoon game history + evanescia fit... the thing with the 8 mourning actors?
i also left out most of the stuff on enroute's early shenanigans, because all of it is basically folk tales and we don't really have a solid timeline for any of it.
bragi, isee, mikhail, and several others involved in this whole timeline are even older than ashveil, who is literally older than BELEBOG'S ETERNAL FREEZE. LIKE. does this put into perspective why ashveil treats blade like he's Young even though blade is an old fucking man....
AGAIN. THOSE FOUR ARE ALL OLDER THAN THE ENTIRE KNOWN HISTORY OF BELEBOG, BASICALLY???? AND THREE OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE
uhm. if you read all this and you like timelines, check out my WIP penacony timeline please. it's much better than this one
Version 4.4 Trailer: "In Ravages Does the Whistle Sound"
With the release of the 4.4 trailer, speculation abounds once more. Where I have no doubt that more thorough dissections will be made, there are two key aspects I want to focus on, in particular, and some quick thoughts about them. Again, this won't be a complete overview, but just a focus on a few key details.
The fate of the Trailblazer
Right off the bat, something seems to be very wrong with the Trailblazer. Their eyes are completely whited out, and things seem to be bleak. Of course, this will absolutely be connected to this monumental scene with Himeko, but I wanted to focus on TB themselves, to start.
To start, I have reason to think that the outcome of this dilemma is linked to a keen speculation that CatWithBlueHat made almost a month ago, referencing mostly to 4.2 when Trailblazer first attained the Path of Elation, and how this may be connected to the possibility that they may be possessed by AHA, and the ramifications this will eventually have in the climax of Planarcadia.
In the Improv Tour Trailer: "Binge It All! The Truth After the Battle of Irontomb!", as jokingly as it's meant to be taken, aside from the humorous recap of the Battle of Amphoreus, the video's spoofy take on a love triangle between AHA, Akivili, and Nanook is what I believe to be a bit of clever foreshadowing by Nihilux.
To put it simply, I have reason to think that framing AHA as a grieving widow who "betrays" Nanook by stabbing THEM in the hope of bringing back Akivili could be an allusion to this specific conundrum, and how AHA may finally intervene to save Trailblazer when THEY'VE mostly been absent, especially when one considers how Trailblazer is very much considered to be the current incarnation of Akivili (as reinforced in the Myriad Celestia Trailer: "Anti-Destruction Alliance"), and someone AHA is immensely attached to. When one factors in AHA's absence from Planarcadia thus far (and doubly so when one remembers that AHA was absent from Trailblazer attaining the Path of Elation), this remains a possibility.
One of the Himekos will die
Perhaps as an inevitability many of us saw from a mile away, I have reason to think this may confirm that our Himeko, the one who's been traveling with us for the past few years who was recently revealed to be an Imagenae creation of the real Himeko, may actually perish.
We learn that she's an Imagenae back in Lethe Below the Living, Non-Existent State. More than that, she was created more than fifteen years ago by the real Himeko (or, who we see as the real Himeko, until confirmed otherwise) as the culmination of her aspirations and what she wished to grow up to become, but couldn't. This is the Himeko that went on to board our Astral Express as its Navigator and the one we came to know.
Now, back to the point of Trailblazer's compromised (dead?) state, the intentional scenes parallels with HI3's Final Lesson, this is what I think might unfold:
In Lecture Notes: Hypothesis on Imagenae Evolution (Excerpt), we're outright told that Imagenae not only are borne from Wishpower, but that Wishpower itself is transferrable. Knowing this, my own hackneyed theory is that Imagenae/our Himeko may sacrifice herself and imbue her Wishpower into Trailblazer, probably to revive them. This, coupled with the fact that Trailblazer gained the Path of Elation back in 4.2 during the climactic battle with Fulwish, may mean that this may be how Trailblazer is revived.
Again, in Lecture Notes: Hypothesis on Imagenae Evolution (Excerpt), it's within the Spirit-Bone-Flesh Hypothesis that I derive this idea that Himeko will utilize her unique Wishpower, that's allowed her to exist outside to Planarcadia and faraway from the Phantasmoon's sustenance, to bring MC back. Given the scene parallels with Hi3's Final Lesson, I think this could be possibility.
As for Himeko Nova and the question of whether or not any Himeko will survive and rejoin the Express as our Navigator, I can't say. That's very up in the air and will be up to 4.4 to answer for us.
Since the release of the Improv Tour trailer that fleshed out Asat Pramad's background, a fascinating question has arisen that sparked my curiosity, which begs the question: why did we see a tell-tale sign of Nanook's blood, and what does it have to do with Asat Pramad?
While speculation abounds, my own theory is simple: I believe that receiving Nanook's gaze isn't enough. To become a Lord Ravager, I believe that an individual also needs a drop of Nanook's blood to complete this ascension, and that it's deliberate on THEIR part.
Receiving THEIR gaze
As it's been stated thrice over in Trailblazer, character story 1, the MSQ Before Their Deaths, Time Ferry Me Through Ages, δ-me13.exe, Intrusion Variables: Trailblazer and beyond, Trailblazer unquestionably became a Pathstrider of Destruction when Nanook had THEIR gaze drawn to them due to the presence of the Stellaron in their chest, what we thought was related to Nanook at the time. (Of course, it's now linked to Harmony, but that's besides the point.)
Regardless, it is clear that Trailblazer received Nanook's gaze and was recognized as a Pathstrider of Destruction. However, this didn't turn them into a Lord Ravager or anything remotely close to it, which begs the question: what else is needed to become a Lord Ravager?
Understanding the Golden Blood
In δ-me13.exe, Underlying Framework: Golden Blood, we come to understand that the golden blood is a natural byproduct of a Lord Ravager and those associated with them. In Amphoreus, the Chrysos Heirs have golden blood is specfically because Irontomb, the Scepter running the Amphorean Experiment, informs the framework of the 12 electrical signals (the Chrysos Heirs) and causes them to have golden blood because it's their Path by association as creations of Irontomb.
So, while they're not Lord Ravagers, they have golden blood by association. Because of this fact, we can assume that golden blood is a major componant of a Lord Ravager, organic or not.
As it's described in δ-me13.exe, Anomaly Log: World-Cleansing Blood, the ultimate source of the Golden Blood is Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction. Now, the truly standout indication of what it is and how it informs my theory is the fact that it's outright described as powerscalin equally with an Emanator of Destruction. And in receiving it, one is chosen to become a Lord Ravager.
Becoming a Lord Ravager
Cycling back to Asat Pramad and the possible misconstruing of the Golden Blood as seen in the Improv Tour, I think it's important to highlight that Lord Ravagers are deliberately chosen by Nanook, and that no one can merely force themselves to become a Lord Ravager. The evidence of this fact, I believe, lays best in Phainon.
In Back to Earth in Evernight: Blazing Sun, Illuminate the Path for the Lost, Lygus outright tells us that Phainon's ascension was a deliberate blessing, one that came as a reward for Phainon's defiance of THEM. Admittedly, it can look like something claimed by force, and more than that, it can be a random occurrence that has nothing to do with a Lord Ravager's ascension. Such as this theory that Asat stole some of Nanook's blood.
By contrast, there was nothing forceful about Asat Pramad's ascension when it came time for him to receive the Golden Blood, and if Irontomb and Phainon's backgrounds are anything to go by, this trend of Lord Ravagers being personally chosen by Nanook can be evidenced in some of the other Lord Ravagers, too.
Perhaps the most prominent example of this deliberate making of a Lord Ravager was Celenova, the LR created to take Zulo's place after his defeat by the Galaxy Rangers. Whether earned, blessed, or personally made, three Lord Ravagers shown to be directly blessed by Nanook leads me to believe that Lord Ravagers cannot make themselves in any respect, let alone in those like Asat Pramad.
And given the entry on the Destruction in Databank, Factions, it seems to point to this being the case, too; Lord Ravagers cannot make themselves, but must be chosen by Nanook, personally.
Just this morning, MHY released an incredibly interesting trailer that focuses on and highlights aspects of Asat Pramad's past and story. Of course, lots of people have come to some very interesting conclusions about it, and some reiterate stories we've already learned about Enroute/Absenti. However, I feel they're worth going over and recontextualizing for those who might not always be privy to lore learnt from readables, relics, and the like.
In any case, let's go through and better explore the history of the Lord Ravager against the Elation.
Enroute/Absenti, the Fool
Roughly before the First Mechanical Emperor's War, there was an incident within the Laurel Wreath Galaxy wherein the last King of the Philosopher's Union, Aurelius, was publicly executed by inorganic lifeforms corrupted by the Anti-Organic Equation. As a last show of humiliation, he drank from a poisoned goblet. All this is described in the Memory Bubble: Fall of Logic.
Precluding this event, Enroute proliferated golden branches that were likely a symbolic act, which would eventually transpire in a "rebuttal" wherein Enroute and other Masked Fools would devise a retaliatory virus against Rubert's forces. This was ultimately orchestrated by Enroute.
Now, right off the bat, we get an incredibly interesting easter egg that some may not have picked up on, and it's the fact that the Philosopher's Poison was created by Enroute. For those who don't remember what that is, let's look back to Gold & Gears.
Judged as Inorganic: Liquid Gold (I) of the SU: Gold & Gears and the readable Glimpses into the Beyond illustrate exactly what it is Enroute managed to achieve, which was create a troll virus known as the Philosopher's Poison that infected Rubert's followers with a virus within the Philosopher's Union.
In addition, based on this alone, it places Enroute as possibly being ~5,000 years old or so, if not older.
In How to Poke an Aeon and Get Away, it illustrates the feat of "Follow Aha and shut that giant beast's mouth" wherein Enroute and a band of fellow Fools found themselves inside the belly of one of Oroboros' husks and eventually escaped by "finding the Voracity's heart and gave it a good kick", with Enroute plucking out its Shadow and using it to cloak themselves.
Eventually, as it was also said in Bragi's Resignation Letter, Enroute grew disillusioned with the Masked Fools and Elation itself, and decided to leave them in exchange for the Trailblaze, assuming a new identity as Isee, the Navigator of the Astral Express.
Isee, the Navigator
Eventually, Enroute joined the Astral Express as the Navigator, Isee. In the Navigator's Astral Chart Uniform, of the relic set As Navigator Isee Sees It, not only did he try to remain optimistic at first, but he became disillusioned until it came to an epoch where he witnessed the depravities of the Trailblazers, especially after Akivili's fall.
In Navigator's Game Die, of the relic set As Navigator Isee Sees It, many Trailblazers became rowdy and unreasonable after Akivili's fall, so he devised a game with the intention of weeding out the troublemakers and depraved members that would face their demise in the hope it would simultaneously defend the golden-hearted Trailblazers who still remained.
In the end, according to the Navigator's Deep Space Mirror of the relic set As Navigator Isee Sees It, it was all futile. For all the hope that Isee tried to maintain throughout his tenure, it wasn't enough.
As Asat narrated earlier in the video, the reason he may have pivoted so sharply to the Destruction is likely because it became an inversion of his hopes and ideals. At the start, Isee was a hopeful, optimistic, altruistic man.
This is best exemplified in the Cosmodyssey Report: Sentinel of Time that gives a brief description of Isee's personality, and how his faith in The Destruction doesn't contradict it much at all. Asat believes that people become their noblest and humanity shines the brightest in the face of Destruction, and he's not entirely wrong. While he's become deeply nihilistic due to losing his faith twice in the Elation and Trailblaze, he found it in the opposite of both ideals. For all the good Isee and Enroute did, whether it's still of any good now could remain to be seen.
As Data Bank, Lord Ravagers — Destruction says, he's either the most human of the Lord Ravagers, or the least. Depending on how one views his actions, both can be true without contradicting one another.
One of the most common misconceptions that circulated the fandom is the notion that Dan Heng and Bailu had their powers severed in two, with Dan Heng receiving Dan Feng's destructive half while Bailu received his healing prowess. The explanation behind why this is wrong and where the misconception arises is a complex answer, however.
And it's not hard to see why. In Dan Heng's companion quest, The Dragon Returns Home, establishes this idea of the division. However, this simply isn't true. Bailu and Dan Heng both have the potential to utilize Abundance and Destructive power equally as part of Permanence and the clues are there.
In this same companion quest, the false equivalency of believing that Bailu and DH had a 50/50 split when it came to their respective inheritances is thrown into doubt because Dan Heng himself states that they need to recall their memories, which implies that both he and Bailu have fragmented memories, which in turn affects their powers and how they're limited. This makes sense for the following reasons:
As Bailu's 4th-character story and DH's messages following his companion mission state, their powers derive from their ancestors' knowledge through genetic memory. In the 1.2 MSQ, Topclouded Towerthrust, Dan Heng IL unlocked the "destructive" half of his powers by resonating with the High Elder statue imbued with his predecessors' memories/knowledge.
The same thing happened to Bailu when she and DH worked together to seal the Arbor in Dan Heng's companion quest, The Dragon Returns Home:
To reiterate, it's stated very plainly that Bailu does have the destructive half of her powers, as shown in her 4th character story:
Therefore, it's not that DH lacks Abundance power and can't heal; it's simply that he hasn't unlocked the knowledge to perform healing Cloudhymn. However, even this might not be the case any longer.
In DHPT's 1st character story, an explicit mention is made of him attempting to heal Trailblazer after their rail car was sundered by Nikador, which may very well be a sign that Dan Heng has regained Dan Feng's healing powers, or is well on his way to doing so.
Several months before the first preview trailer for Amphoreus ever dropped, or Amphoreus cropped up as an easily-missed easter egg in the odd mention in-game, there was a world that mirrored Amphoreus uncannily, and even foreshadowed some of what we'd come to expect in Amphoreus. This world was known as Izumo, the lost home world of Acheron, who in turn is a standout variant of Hi3's Raiden Mei who joined the roster of notable ones, such as Bronya and Silver Wolf with Hi3's Bronya.
In the MSQ Cat Among Pigeons, When the Sacred Ginmill Closes, Acheron engages in a deep conversation with Welt Yang, discussing the uncanny parallels in their stories and the people that mirrored one another, such as Kevin Kaslana and Hakuhatsu-Ki. While these characters are implicitly implied to be variants of each other, it set the stage that would be fleshed out months later when we'd finally embark on the trip to Amphoreus in January 2025.
As Amphoreus' story unfolded over the next year, an interesting notion cropped up: that Amphoreus was another world whose story would mirror that of Earth and Izumo, and that several story beats would both parallel and foil this conversation between Welt and Acheron, and be fleshed out further still.
As I haven't played Hi3 yet, for brevity's sake, this video by Homu Labs offers a comprehensive overview for Kevin and Phainon's parallels, due to my own inability to cover them:
With that being said, let me give you all an overview of the similarities between Izumo & Amphoreus.
The Kami Invasion & the Black Tide
The Myriad Celestia Trailer — "Kyoden: A Cleave Across the Transient World" paints a rather vivid introductory picture of the apocryphal fate that would come to befall Izumo.
To put it simply, we're told that Kami from Takamagahara, Izumo's sister planet, descended and began to invade Izumo with the intention of slaughtering its peoples. These otherworldly beings caused immense strife, but the framing of its disaster echoes what befell Amphoreus.
In the Golden Epic Trailer — "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes", a similar epic is woven that tells an exceedingly similar tale: the black tide appeared one day and was the advent of a terrible disaster in the black tide.
Perhaps what's most fascinating is the standout reasons that instigated these tragedies: while the Kami of Takamagahara were insinuated to have been forced to leave because of the Black Sun (a Shadow of Nihility, or an artifact of IX) inexorably consuming Takamagahara, the black tide did the same to Amphoreus. Of course, while we now know that the Black Tide was actually the Destruction Equation, the destructiveness of both seem eerily similar.
In δ-me13.exe, Black Tide, we're told the truth of the Black Tide: that it's a visual glitch, not a true miasma like we may have expected, and is the chosen manifestation of the Destruction Equation, a byproduct that teeters somewhere between Erudition and Destruction, if not being a bit of both. And yet, the similarities between the disasters they begot are undeniable.
In the relic set Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm, of the planar ornament Izumo's Magatsu no Morokami, and also in the Golden Epic Trailer — "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes" trailer, it further describes the decimation wrought by the Kami, and how uncannily similar it was to the Black Tide.
As described further by Agaea in Light Slips the Gate, Shadow Greets the Throne, Strife, Dispel the Accompanying Fears, both began with an almost identical premise: two worlds began peacefully, only to be suddenly invaded by a calamity from beyond their skies that wrought disaster, strife, and chaos and drove the world and its people to the brink.
The Flame-Chase Journey and the Kami-slaying Journey (Coreflames & Edict Edges)
Inevitably, this invasion by the Kami compelled the people of Izumo to act, to be more than passive in the face of their grim fate. In the same spirit, the people of Amphoreus embarked on the Flame-Chase Journey.
In both the relic set Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm, the planar ornament Izumo's Magatsu no Morokami, and in the Golden Epic Trailer — "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes", people embarked on a journey with the hope of alleviating their worlds from suffering by embarking on a journey to bring an end to suffering. And in doing so, they utilized the power of the gods they struggled against; from the Kami, they forged the Edict Edges and from the Titans, the Chrysos Heirs wrested the Coreflames.
In Acheron's first and second character stories, and in the Loading Screen description of the Chrysos Heirs + the Hoyolab article Amphoreus Chapter | Tales of the Chrysos Heirs, both journeys were stated to be inevitable destinies whose participants were said to be divinely chosen. Both demanded twelve participants in order to be fulfilled.
In both the Myriad Celestia Trailer: "Amphoreus' Saga of Heroes" and Myriad Celestia Trailer — "Kyoden: A Cleave Across the Transient World", both use the same poetic flair when describing both the Chrysos Heirs and Edict Edges, and even the fashion they're described mirrors one another. The parallels could be seen as uncanny.
Origin & End, the Demiurge & Deliverer
In both Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm, Izumo's Blades of Origin and End and Myriad Celestia Trailer — "Kyoden: A Cleave Across the Transient World", Izumo's fate narrowed to an epoch as the other Edict Edges were sacrificed to create two final blades: Origin & End. They would decide the fate of Izumo as Acheron and Hakuhatsu-ki would be the last survivors.
Just as their destinies interconnected, so too would Phainon and Cyrene's.
Pages, Ripples That Engrave Memories & Hero, Return to Dawn in Mortality from As Tomorrow Became Yesterday, and for the description of Vessel of the Destruction, Khaslana, just as Acheron and Hakuhatsu-ki faced off as destined enemies at Izumo's end, so too did Phainon and Cyrene form two halves of a whole as both Amophreus' heart and Irontomb's vessel, instrumental in the end.
This is made clear by how δ-me13.exe, Eternal_Recurrence that describes how Phainon and Cyrene actively collaborated to prevent Irontomb's ascension, which foils heavily to Acheron and Hakuhatsu-ki who became enemies.
And this, perhaps, is what makes the differences between Hakuhatsu-ki/Acheron and Phainon/Cyrene so interesting, as they both served instrumental roles that both demanded both of them, and both had a variant of Kevin Kaslana involved, let alone another of Raiden Mei and Elysia, respectively, one who came to know Kevin in the Eternal Realm and faced off against him at the very end, and also knew Elysia extremely closely as a friend and comrade.
Conclusion
All in all, I don't think the staggering similarities between Izumo and Amphoreus are coincidental, and that Izumo may have existed to foreshadow what we would eventually undergo in Amphoreus. The greatest difference being, of course, is that Amphoreus' ending became happier one despite the immense cost and sacrifice it took to reach that place.
Within the HSR universe, the luck of the draw is a force that exerts considerable influence on the game's story, whether it comes from main story quests, to places as easily overlooked as readables or an obscure description in a location rarely ventured anymore. As I touched on in a previous meta of mine, there are considerable confluences and means of interference that can alter a seemingly fixed segment of the story. Through the Solitary Waves Theory, expounded on in Antimonic Waltz, we're essentially told that any and every Path has the potential to "rewrite the constant" and change the future of the universe.
However, I do believe there's a stark difference between doing this by chance and having the ability to alter the future intentionally. Probability manipulation is a very deliberate ability I think merits exploring, especially through the people who are the most prolific examples of it.
As the LC Destiny's Threads Forewoven states, the ability to manipulate fate is the domain of destiny itself, which makes these two's abilities even more interesting.
Asat Pramad
The trace materials Four Phases, Crossing the River to Check the King & Omnicolor, Fool's Own, as well as the retconned DU curio, Asat Pramad's Dice (Head), all paint an identical picture: that the Lord Ravager is capable of controlling probability in order to manipulate the outcome.
In So Laughed the Masses, Serotonin Exposure Phobia, this control is crystalized when Asat tells us to our faces that he has the ability to control probability through the power of Elation, one that has already proven its ability to change causality and tilt an instance towards chaos.
Elation Brimming With Blessings, an Elation Light Cone, seems to prove this notion. An element of Asat's probability manipulation is that it isn't without an element of chaos. As it's derived from Elation, this unpredictability is tempered by his dice that do allow him some control. But, this kind of control doesn't mean expected results, so much as changing an outcome until it grants him one he wants; as stated in the relics, this lack of full control may be intentional, instead rerolling until a more favorable outcome is achieved.
Whether this means Asat's probability manipulation isn't total or slightly unpredictable on purpose might not be fully known, but if the Navigator's Everstride Boots are anything to go by, he may not have as much control as we think, but learned to use it to his advantage.
Polka Kakamond
As a towering figure within the game's lore, Polka's existence was as known as far back as the prologue mission when Kafka had the option of examining her portrait in Herta's office on the way to "dropping off" Trailblazer at the start, positioning them where they needed to be.
Although it wasn't known until a little later on, Polka's ability to manipulate probability and causality are legendary.
The process is best described in the SU/DU curio, Kill That Butterfly, believed to be narrated by Polka herself as she muses on how she controls causality. In doing so, she's described as "annihilating a chaotic system" whereby she compares this manipulation to insect taxidermy that involves pinning a specimen; in this case, it's a butterfly likely as a metaphor for the butterfly effect.
In Pom-Pom's Intel | Unveiling the Dangerous Members of the Genius Society, and in Overviewing the Ripples of the Unknowable Domain, it's also made clear that Polka's causality manipulation is informed by Nous' "moments" that help her formulate a strategy behind her assassinations and other modes of interference.
While Asat Pramad's means of probability control are driven by an element of chaos, Polka's eliminates all of it (or, it tries to). As Herta speculates in Antinomic Waltz, this causality control may extend far and wide, leading her to believe that Polka herself may be the one running interference. With her causality manipulation so staggering, it makes one wonder as to the full extent of her abilities, and how far-reaching they truly are.
Conclusion
While not a common ability, and with the likelihood of other people within HSR bearing such an ability, it nonetheless makes for an extremely interesting study with how much emphasis is given to destiny and the ability to either control or defy it.
As many theorists have noted for as far back as predecessors like Gun Girlz Z, games within the shared Hoyoverse are connected by a complex cosmogony that takes concepts from real world anthropology (like religions and mythology) to sciences and mathematics. Because of the vastness, it's likely impossible (or at the very least, highly difficult) to encapsulate everything that comprises the Hoyoverse when it would likely take huge amounts of study to begin comprehending every single concept that may or may not be present in its cosmogony.
In such an instance of brevity, for the sake of this post, I wanted to focus on two of the most fascinating Paths in HSR: Finality and Trailblaze.
As a disclaimer, it should be noted that not every theorem/concept may be accurate, nor will this contain every concept out there that could fit. I don't have a background in the sciences (outside of IT), so my understanding will be very casual at best and some of these may be wrong, so don't take it completely seriously. Without further ado:
The Torodial Model of the Universe
A tentative cosmological torus model for describing the re-bounce of the universe in a circular universe concept. This geometric approach models the information Universe at fractal scales. The surface trajectory of information quanta is shown in grey patterns (see also inset left above), including their interactive processing in the inner core of the torus with potential wave coupling/conjugation by superposition (see inset right middle). The nested (self similar) aspect and 4-D dimension of the torus are indicated via the insets left below. The dynamics of the torus is implicit by an inherent rotation axis and recurrent flow of wave information in a bi-spiral flow pattern. The integral state of the torus depicts a supposed stage of our universe in which all information is collected and gravitationally compressed into a terminal black hole, in which all information is holographically projected on a virtual screen (its event horizon). Information is projected on the black hole horizon and proposed to be passed through a wormhole structure that is inherently connected to a white hole. The latter is instrumental in dispersing the particular information into a next (nested) version of a cyclic universe (Meijer, 2015). Aspect of time in the model is represented by the colored triangle planes: red plane depicts the present time as a back projection of past and future waves, according to the transactional interpretation of quantum physics by John Cramer, green plane below indicates the past time, and green plane above the future time. (Figure modified from Stan Tenen, 2002 as shown in a PPT presentation of Amoroso, on Dirac spherical rotation).
- Consciousness in the Universe is Scale Invariant and Implies an Event Horizon of the Human Brain
The Toroidal Universe Theory proposes that the universe may not actually be expanding but only appears to be because space-time dynamically flows with the geometry of a torus. So the universe may be simultaneously expanding and contracting in a closed loop – stretching at the top where space-time emerges from the centre of the torus, and contracting at the bottom where space-time flows back into the centre. The Toroidal Universe Theory also explains why time only flows in the one direction – forwards.- Toroidal Universe
To begin, the first concept I want to introduce is known as the Toroidal Model of the universe. According to this theory, the known and unknown universe as we know it begins and ends in the shape of a Torus--and as the Hoyoverse is governed by the notion of ideals and philosophies taking literal form as the Aeons and Paths, I thought this idea fits here well enough.
Simply put, space-time flows in the shape of a torus, and the universe with it. And as Trailblaze and Finality are believed to be cyclical mirrors of one another, being the most prominent Paths that are connected with the concept of time, it seems to connect with what we know of Finality and Trailblaze.
In Pages, Ripples That Engrave Memories of the MSQ, As Tomorrow Became Yesterday, during the conversation with Nous when Herta self-coronated with the Aeon to partially rewrite the Fourth Instance, Herta deciphers the conclusion that many theorists of have speculated about Akivili's fate: that Akivili went on to become Terminus at the end of time, and that THEIR disappearance was, in fact, a metamorphosis.
By the Toroidal Model of the universe, these two concepts seem to fit together snugly. Akivili is born at the beginning of time, and Terminus is always born at its end. In the Toroidal Model, Akivili seems to best be represented by the White Hole that moves time towards the future while Terminus, the Black Hole, moves through the past until they loop at each cycle's beginning. As Terminus is born at the end of time and "lives" through it backwards, it makes sense that THEY would flow through time this way, just like the Toroidal Model's Black Hole.
The brain is a prediction machine
The brain is a prediction machine. It is always trying to predict what is going to happen next so that we are ready for whatever life throws at us. New research published today by Oxford University researchers in the journal Neuron found that people have an advance sense of how well they will do at a task even before they try it. This advance sense of how well we will do guides us towards tasks and problems we are likely to solve, and away from those that might be too hard. A brain activity pattern in the anterior lateral prefrontal cortex tracks this estimate of how well we are likely to do.
- The brain is a prediction machine: It knows how well we are doing something before we even try
In a very broad sense, predictive processing refers to any type of processing which incorporates or generates not just information about the past or the present, but also future states of the body or the environment. Such directedness towards the future has long been recognized as relevant and beneficial for different aspects of information processing, such as perception, motor and cognitive control, decision making, theory of mind and other cognitive processes in humans as well as, in a more rudimentary form, animals. Historically, the investigation of anticipatory mechanisms and representations started almost in parallel in the contexts of perceptual and motor processing. One of the first proposals that expectations are intrinsically related to actions was formulated in the 19th century within the ideomotor principle which has recently been revisited by theories suggesting the existence of shared or common codes between perception and action (James, 1890; Prinz, 1990; Hommel et al., 2001; Stock and Stock, 2004).
- Prediction, Cognition, and the Brain
Between Letter From the Comet Hunter, Trailblaze Power, and Trailblaze Compass, it paints an extremely interesting picture in this theory. Simply put, the essence of Trailblaze parallels the notion of the mind as a predictive machine.
As it can be understood, the essence of Trailblazing is moving forward. As the mind is the vehicle in which humans operate from, its predictive way of anticipating the immediate future mirrors Trailblaze very closely.
In Farewell, Penacony's chapter, Stranger in a Strange Land, Welt seems to confirm this by stating how the Astral Express operates like a perpetual motion machine: Trailblaze energy keeps it moving, and the Astral Express constantly moves forward. While perpetual motion machines are impossible in reality, in HSR, they seem to describe a core aspect of Trailblazing. Whether in the mind or in their reality, Trailblazing is moving forward, especially into the unknown.
The Relativity of Simultaneity
The Principle of Relativity directly predicts effects that initially seem strange — even weird. Strange or not, weird or not; logical argument demonstrates them and experiment verifies them. One effect has to do with simultaneity: Let two events occur separated in space along the direction of relative motion between laboratory and rocket frames. These two events, even if simultaneous as measured by one observer, cannot be simultaneous as measured by both observers.
Train Paradox: Two lightning bolts strike simultaneously for ground observer
(Figure Above) Einstein’s Train Paradox illustrating the relativity of simultaneity. Top: Lightning strikes the front and hack ends of a moving train, leaving char marks on both track and train. Each emitted flash spreads out in all directions. Center: Observer riding in the middle of the train concludes that the two strokes are not simultaneous. Her argument: "(I) I am equidistant from the front and hack char marks on the train. (2) Light has the standard speed in my frame, and equal speed in both directions. (3) The flash arrived from the front of the train first. Therefore, (4) the flash must have left the front of the train first; the front lightning holt fell before the rear lightning bolt fell. I conclude that the lightning strokes were not simultaneous." Bottom: Observer standing by the tracks halfway between the char marks on the tracks concludes that the strokes were simultaneous, since the flashes from the strokes reach him at the same time.
-3.4: Relativity of Simultaneity
The Relativity of Simultaneity, a branch of the infamous Theory of Relativity, deals with the conundrum of simultaneity where it regards an observer. If lightning strikes simultaneously at two different points, while it may appear simultaneously for one observer, what if there were two who saw the two lightning bolts strike at different times?
According to Finality's Vision, the game system introduced some time ago, Finality and Trailblaze are two Paths seen as anathema to one another due to moving in two different directions. And yet, like the two lightning strikes at opposite ends of a train, time may be our lightning strikes and the two observers could be Akivili and Terminus in this simulacra, but according to this theory and how it can connect, lightning strikes at the same exact time regardless of who is observing. One may look ahead, and the other looks backs, but it's all the same.
The Andromeda Paradox
Piggybacking off of the Relativity of Simultaneity, the Andromeda Paradox is a similar theory that explores the discrepancy between two different observers.
The Andromeda Paradox is a thought experiment proposed by physicist Roger Penrose to demonstrate a strange consequence of Einstein’s special theory of relativity: that different observers can disagree on what is happening right now, even at galaxies millions of light-years away.
- The Andromeda Paradox
"In this diagram:
The vertical axis represents time.
The horizontal axis represents space.
The coloured lines represent the different planes of simultaneity for Alice and Bob.
The Andromeda galaxy sits far to the right.
Depending on their motion, Alice’s and Bob’s “now” slices intersect different moments in the distant galaxy. Note that in this illustration, Bob is stationary for the sake of simplicity.
In physics, especially in special relativity, when we say that “different observers slice up the universe differently”, we mean that they divide spacetime into what they consider the past, present, and future differently, depending on their motion.
So for each observer, there’s a different “slice” of the universe that they call “now”, a plane of simultaneity."
In As Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday, Pages, Ripples That Engrave Memories, Trailblazer meets a reflection of themselves that stand back to back, staring in opposite directions; by their dialogue, the MC looks towards the future/Trailblaze while their "clone" gazes back, this clone interrogating them and demanding to know why they Trailblaze.
In a way, it matches the Andromeda Paradox because it represents two different observers looking in the opposite yet converging direction, seeing the same thing differently: Trailblaze (MC) looks ahead and sees the future while our opposite (represented by the gender opposite the one you choose) looks back towards the "past."
The Block Universe
Called the “block universe,” it is essentially a static brick that encompasses all of space and all of time. Rather than a three-dimensional place that evolves, the block universe is a static, four-dimensional entity (the fourth dimension being time). You can imagine it as a vast block of glass or ice, stretching out in every direction in space as well as back and forth in time, containing all the connections and events that make up the universe.
- The Block Universe
A new challenge emerged a century ago with Minkowski’s space–time [2] as it provided support for viewing the universe as a four-dimensional space–time block that exists as one entity. In this view, called the block universe (or eternalism in philosophical discussions), there is no basis for singling out a present time that separates the past from the future because all times coexist with equal status. As such, it has profound implications for how we view our experience of existing in the present moment, able to reflect on the past and plan new actions in a variable future. Indeed, if all times coexist with equal status, the future is as fixed as the past and so humans can only act in compliance with the future; this directly conflicts with the notion that humans can act freely.
- The quantum theory of time, the block universe, and human experience
The block universe is a theory that, within the cosmos, the past, present, and future all coexist simultaneously. Everything that has, will, or could happen all exist.
In both the 3.7 MSQ (As Tomorrow Became Yesterday/Pages, Ripples That Engrave Memories) and Long Day's journey Into the Night/The Knocking at Ungodly Hours, it demonstrates the possibility of all directions of time and its possibilities existing at the same time, as Acheron can seemingly observe; this version of Pom-Pom, meanwhile, notes how the Trailblazer is repeating history, in a way, exactly as Akivili had.
If the HSR universe exists by the Block Universe theory, then this makes sense as the past/present/future and all its potentials already all exist. They can be accessed, traversed, or seen depending on the individual, much in the way Akivili can still live and be dead simultaneously, just as Terminus could rise from THEIR death and travel back in time, all at the same time.
With the release of Lethe Below the Living in 4.3, an incredibly interesting notion came to light that Ruan Mei herself explains in the Arcadia of Mystery & Terror chapter this new conundrum facing the universe:
To put it simply, following the Swarm Disaster when Oroboros emerged to gorge THEMSELVES on the Swarm, Oroboros' rampage was said to imperiled the universe almost as much as Tayzzyronth had, and something needed to be done. We know that several Aeons teamed up in a rare moment of cooperation as demonstrated in the Simulated Universe: Swarm Disaster, The End: Third Plane:
And as it was explained in 4.3 by Ruan Mei, AHA was seemingly chosen as the mortician not of Tayzzyronth that the other Aeons (especially Qlipoth) were preoccupied with, but of Oroboros, the Aeon that became Tayzzyronth's greatest enemy. And in doing so, like dispatching the mythical hydra, THEY buried countless husks of Oroboros across myriad planets, suppressed by Abundance and fueled by Voracity.
Surprisingly, this occurrence has mythological roots. In many mythologies across the globe, there have been countless instances of a world/cosmic tree that harbored a serpent/dragon/leviathan at its roots that traces its origins all the way back to ancient Mesopetamia.
The motif of the serpent in the tree probably originates in ancient Mesopotamia. We find a possible allusion to it in The Myth of Etana. Tablet II tells of ‘A shrine for Hadad, the god. In the shade of that shrine a poplar was growing. In its crown an eagle settled, a serpent settled at its root’. We find the same motif in Bilgames [Gilgamesh] and the Netherworld, where we read of a tree in Uruk, ‘In its base a snake-that-knows-no-charm had made its nest, in its branches a thunderbird had hatched its brood, in its trunk a demon-maiden had built her home’ (41-44).
- Further Adventures of the Serpent in the Tree
Currently, there are four known locations where this phenomenon occurs prominently: the Xianzhou Luofu, Planarcadia, Kronstadt, and Vonwacq. Below, I cover each of these planets and their own tree/serpent pairs.
The Xianzhou Luofu
In Annotations of "Ode to Reignbow Path", the first ship to grow an Ambrosial Arbor was the Luofu, followed by the Cangcheng, Yuanqiao, and Daiyu that all possessed "divine trees." In what was probably our first and most notable example of an Abundance Plaguemark that harbored what we now know as a husk/fragment of Oroboros, the Ambrosial Arbor of the Luofu was said to have a "maddened and frenzied" dragon sealed below its roots. At over 8,100 years old according to the Xianzhou Alliance's history, it makes it one of the oldest examples.
In Dan Heng IL's first character story, it describes how there is a "maddened and frenzied dragon" in the Ambrosial Arbor, and Dan Shu's NPC dialogue (before the Adventure Mission Venom Brews, Immortality Looms) also speak of a candle dragon below (also known as the Torch Dragon in the CN version).
To those that may not be aware, it's highly implied that the Ambrosial Arbor may be based on this specific bronze sculpture of what experts believe is the Fusang Tree:
Rising 3.96 meters, this is the tallest bronze artifact ever discovered from the ancient world. The tree has three levels of branches, each bearing three clusters of fruit and perching birds — nine birds in total. A sinuous dragon coils down the trunk. Many scholars believe this represents the mythical Fusang Tree (扶桑树) described in the ancient text 'Shan Hai Jing' (Classic of Mountains and Seas), upon which ten suns would rest. The tree was found smashed into over 200 fragments in a sacrificial pit and painstakingly restored over years. One branch remains missing, suggesting the tree may have originally been even taller.
- Sacred Bronze Tree, Chinaheritageguide
This was originally brought to my and many people's attention by Lalody's Lore in her video about Dan Heng and Ren's cultural references, and the museum housing this artifact was featured in a collaboration with Genshin a while ago, which lends a lot of credence to this theory. What's most striking is that, at the bottom, near the roots, in the original sculpture, a dragon coils down the trunk of the Fusang tree. This fits as the Ambrosial Arbor is described as harboring a dragon in its roots not once, but twice. And with what we know now, this may not be a dragon related to Permanence, but a fragment of Oroboros sealed beneath the Arbor's roots.
Planarcadia
Our next most notable example is the Planarch Elwood and the fragment of Oroboros sealed in the Land of Sneering Gods, a pocket dimension within the World in Canvas.
Evanescia's first character story is our first, definitive example of this in action. While the Ambrosial Arbor has yet to be confirmed as having a fragment of Oroboros sealed beneath its roots despite the staggering parallels, the Planarch Elwood does.
In addition, while the mythology of the Fusang tree and the dragon beneath its roots is identical in Japan, there is a mythological precedent that explains Evanescia's existence as a personification of the Elwood.
The shintai—literally, the body of the kami—is an object in which the spirit of the kami resides. [...] The sacred objects in which the kami reside are typically mirrors, magatama (comma-shaped stones), or swords. [...] In its most elemental form, Shintō is a kind of nature worship. At quite a few shrines, accordingly, the shintai is not an artifact but a natural object or landmark. [...] The term himorobi is used in reference to sacred forests or conspicuously large, old trees venerated as shinboku (sacred trees).
- “Shintai, Shinboku”: The Divine Object or Tree
She is, in essence, a kami--a divine spirit or god in Shinotism that represent everything from inanimate objects to natural phenomenon. This informs why she takes on a human-like form whereas the Ambrosial Arbor lacks an avatar.
Kronstadt
Now, something that needs to be said about Kronstadt is the fact that details of its potential Plaguemark are mostly unknown, and it's not clear whether it had one or not. It does seem to fracture this trend slightly, but not enough to demolish it completely. In addition, in Arcadia of Mystery & Terror, it's implied that the Astral Express/Akivili "brought" this remnant to Kronstadt eons ago.
Despite the lack of a notable tree, that doesn't mean that hints don't exist that can't point to the presence of Abundance on his homeworld.
In both Letters to the Detective and Stories That Must Be Told About the Boss of Galaxy Rangers, we're told that "fur-clad beasts" proliferated across Kronstadt, implied to have been cultivated by Zulo personally. This raises a discrepancy, however.
In the List of Archenemies, the most prominent example of werewolf-like creatures that exist in-game are known as the Borisin that evolved from a human-like species to become monstrous, said to have gleaned it from a Plaguemark on Old Verdentia known as the Redspring.
While they do align, until we know which Path(s) Zulo was aligned towards/against, the main way that Lord Ravagers create their armies is by infusing other beings with the power of Destruction, such as what almost happened to Jing Yuan and what caused Graphia to become a Voidranger. Therefore, it's not unreasonable to assume that Zulo's armies, infused by Destruction, may have looked more lupine than like the sleek, armored Voidrangers we're used to seeing. Whether Abundance had some involvement in these transformations is wholly unknown.
Mythologically-speaking, Kronstadt's coding skews in roughly two directions: Romanian Brasov when it was under Transylvanian Saxon (German) rule, or Russian Kronstadt. While Rodnovery does possess tale of a world tree, Germanic mythology fits better due to the overwhelming Norse coding in Ashveil's design, specifically when it comes to the myth of Fenrir, not just Fenrir alone.
Nidhogg (Old Norse Níðhöggr, literally “Curse-striker” or “He Who Strikes with Malice”) is the foremost of several serpents or dragons who dwell beneath the world-tree Yggdrasil and eat its roots. This is highly injurious to the tree, which holds the Nine Worlds of the cosmos. Nidhogg’s actions have the intention of pulling the cosmos back to chaos, and he, along with his reptilian cohort, can therefore surely be classified among the giants (or, as they were called in pre-Christian times, “devourers”).
- Nidhogg
It should also be mentioned that, while Nidhogg isn't considered a Leviathan, its similarities with the Luofu's own "torch dragon" do make the resemblance uncanny, and ultimately connected to this shared trend of world trees/Plaguemarks and the serpents/dragons that burrow around their roots.
Vonwacq
The last planet to be included is Vonwacq, the infamous battleground between Galaxy Rangers and Dr. Primitive, a time of great tragedy wherein Dr. Primitive almost entirely terminated the Galaxy Rangers and forced them to disappear for eons. In the Arcadia of Terror & Mystery chapter, Tingyun and March discuss its similarity to Planarcadia in possessing a Voracity-suppressing Plaguemark and remnant of Oroboros.
In the Sprightly Vonwacq relic set, its Plaguemark is implied to be the Thestang Tree, a tree capable of bearing fruit that begets life. Not only that, but it describes their own "ritual" similar to the Phantasmoon Games that occurs every sixty years on a cyclical basis.
Mythologically-speaking, Vonwacq is said to be inspired by Al-Wakwak, a splendid, mythical island abundant with riches and treasures.
"[The] Wakwak Tree from medieval Arabic lore, which grows the heads of women, animals and fantastic creatures. This legendary tree is said to grow on an island called Al-Wakwak in the Sea of China, which is inhabited by women and ruled by a queen. Other versions mention beautiful women growing as the fruit of the tree, as that’s how the all-female population of the island reproduces."
- Wakwak Tree
While the legends of Al-Wakwak lack a specific Leviathan-equivalent, that doesn't mean Arabian mythology doesn't have their own.
Bahamut is said to be a powerful world-fish creature, a fish or even a whale according to different traditions. It can cause havoc, and chiefly earthquakes. The fish is so big that all “the seas of the world, placed in one of the fish’s nostrils, would be like a mustard seed laid in the desert.” Al Qazwini, an influential scholar from the 13th century CE and author of Wonders of Creation, suggested a modified cosmology to the story my father had told me. At the bottom of his scheme of the universe, an angel holds Bahamut, and at the top the earth or cosmos crowned with the reliefs of Mount Qaf sits on a bull above Bahamut. No matter the sequence and the various layers proposed, Bahamut is a foundation without a base, and this fragile assembly depicts a balance necessary to the stability of the world, from underground (or undersea) to the skies, hell to heaven. “From the moon to the fish,” a Persian saying goes.
- Farah Abdessamad remembers the Dead Sea and the myth of Bahamut.
This Leviathan-equivalent is known as Bahamut, typically described as a great fish that is the foundation of existence, but sometimes depicted as a kind of dragon god, and often considered a Leviathan. Therefore, it stands to reason with Vonwacq's coding, that Bahamut would be their Leviathan if more comes to light about the verdant, woody planet.
Perhaps one of the most curious aspects of Ren's immortality is that, despite being Mara-struck (with an arguably "purer" variant thanks to Shuhu), Ren is unable to suffer from the usual effects of Mara, such as a complete loss of sanity or the florid growths that afflict typical Marastruck. Not only that, but Ren experienced de-aging that reverted his body to that of a younger man. While the true reason behind this isn't entirely known, some ideas have circulated before.
One shell-shocking notion originally came from Lalody's Lore, who proposed the idea that one of the fulcrums to Ren's unusual immortality is that it's buoyed by the Permanence, which makes a great deal of sense when one factors in its unusual facets. While the main variable was purported to be the Dragon's Heart (regardless if it was a literal organ or a manifestation related to a High Elder's power), this hasn't been confirmed or denied as of yet.
One plot point constantly asserted since the debut of Dan Heng IL's companion quest, The Dragon Returns Home, is the assertion that the changes done to the Transmutation Arcanum resulted in the Semi-Draconic Abomination's uncontrollable creation, and while it was a failure after Jingliu had to put it down, Yingxing does display some hints of "inheriting" its properties. While the means that Yingxing assimilated with it is unknown, as a monstrosity that contained both the essences of Permanence (Dan Feng/Long) and Abundance(Shuhu), it affecting him is incredibly likely.
In DHIL, Character Story III & Jingliu, Character Story IV, we're painted a sketchy if interesting picture that led to this occurring.
During the Sedition, after this transformation, it's highly implied that Yingxing not only transformed before the Semi-Draconic Abomination's death, but that he engaged in battle with Jingliu to the point that she was previously injured from their duel while Yingxing protected Dan Feng. Following this deadly battle, Yingxing likely had been transformed simultaneously as the Abomination had been made, his elevated strength level is consistent with the Draught of Draconic Surge, a medicine that combines Long's blood with that of subjects who imbibed it, especially when it's combined with Abundance-affected Long-life Species like Xianzhou Natives.
This is better detailed in Pharmacological Studies on the Draught of Draconic Surge, Disciples of Sanctus Medicus: Collection of Exhibits, which describes experiments that seem to mirror the unique properties of Ren's immortality. In addition, the de-aging that Yingxing underwent is identical to what a scholar named Bernini underwent centuries later.
As expanded on in the Shredded Notes of Scholar Bernini, another aspect of Ren's immortality possibly derived from Abundance and Permanence is the fact that it's constantly asserted how it's only by the power of Long that the Ambrosial Arbor, the pinnacle of Yaoshi's manifested power, which highly suggests the possibility of Abundance being connected to Permanence in some way to create a "balanced" immortality that materialized in Ren.
According to the Adventure Mission Venom Brews, Immortality Looms, Dan Heng IL, Character Story I and Dan Heng's companion quest, The Dragon Returns Home, there exists something known as the "maddened and frenzied dragon," called the candle (or torch) dragon, tied to the Ambrosial Arbor. Whether an actual being or a metaphor, it strongly implies the connection between Abundance and Permanence, as only a High Elder is capable of sealing the Arbor, which is also true of the High Elders for the Hexafleet ships that carry similar Plaguemarks.
As can be read in Pharmacological Studies on the Draught of Draconic Surge, Disciples of Sanctus Medicus: Collection of Exhibits, Ren's immortality is both the result of Shuhu amalgamating to him that made him spectacularly more powerful than the average Marastruck whilst this Mara may have been tempered by Dan Feng's essences that caused him to both de-age to be much younger than he was and prevent the Mara from overtaking him completely, like it most Marastuck.
A cage of Voracity
With the curious amount of ties between Abundance, Permanence and Voracity, perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Voracity would be able to both contain/temper an Emanator of Abundance (Shuhu), to outright consuming it. This was revealed in the 4.3 MSQ, The Lethe Below the Living, Primeval and Other Times .
While this says nothing specifically of tempering Abundance, what it does speak of is the ability to contain it, if in a grisly fashion that speaks more of an attrition than true disposal, let alone termination.
In a way, this "attrition" makes sense. As Ruan Mei explains it in Arcadia Of Mystery And Terror, in an unknown period after the Swarm Disaster when Oroboros was said to have disappeared, like cutting off the heads of the mythical hydra, AHA personally sealed countless vestiges of Oroboros' body, suppressed it with Voracity, and powered it via the Path of Voracity.
In Primeval And Other Times, Ren makes his plan clear: Oroboros will serve as the furnace, Abundance as the iron, and their endless undying would be the hammer that culminates in a cage that will contain Shuhu for all eternity.
As I've written previously, there's an extreme likelihood that Long the Permanence may have been a Leviathan like Oroboros. When you double that up with the fact that it's possible that Abundance stems from Permanence, it adds up to an interesting possibility that Ren's immortality, if it was affected by Permanence ala the Half-Draconic Abomination in some way, then turning to Voracity to contain Shuhu does make some sense.
One of the biggest misconceptions I've seen circulating the fandom at times is this idea that only Finality is truly capable of altering the future, and that people like Elio even possess the ability to literally control the fate/destiny of the cosmos through the "scripts" he sees/"writes" when this isn't necessarily the case. Of course, it's not hard to see how this belief arises: Terminus, as one of the few Aeons to be born in the future at the "end" of the universe (like Fuli), moves backwards through time. Because of this, THEY have the unique ability to have their visions/whispers deciphered by those like Elio or the Omen Vanguards who received the blessings of Terminus to "see" those same visions, and "see" an absolute version of the future. But, this isn't always the case.
The truth, instead, lies in something known as the Solitary Waves Theory.
In Antinomic Waltz, by this point, the player had heard of Herta's infamous Solitary Waves Theory that had been her ticket into the Genius Society. In the simplest terms, the Solitary Waves Theory defines fate within HSR universe: that fate is either constant and predetermined with no free will, or chaotic and undetermined.
More than that, Herta gives us another important fact related to it: that any Path at any time can alter the destiny of the cosmos, not just Finality. By knowing this, it explains why there are so many manipulators who claim to be able to alter the fate of the universe, or the fate of a specific planet or event. From Asat Pramad to Yao Guang, fate rests not in the hands of Finality alone.
In Fu Xuan's Character Story I, her conversation with Nous also illuminates this fact. In questioning whether the future is predetermined or not depends on whether a stable constant is followed exactly, or if Paths or actions can change the outcome of any given event. Indeed, the answer is that any Path can exert the power to change the future, no matter who does it.
Examples by Path:
Of course, it's one thing to simply explain this concept as a whole when there's many examples of this in the story. Here are some I've compiled, but this is by no means a complete list.
Elation
In So Laughed the Masses, Serotonin Exposure Phobia, Asat brags about how he can change the "script", which I believe led to the initial confusion that Elation could uniquely alter fate/the "script" within the fandom recently. The reason for this is fairly clear.
In Scene 999: GAME NOT OVER, through being shown the possibilities of Silver Wolf's future that would've come with the uninhibited use of her lvl 999 Cartridge, we're told that the unpredictable power of Elation has the power to interfere with the "script"/Finality.
Over a year ago in Antinomic Waltz, the simulated AHA did something similar at Screwllum's behest, thwarting Polka Kakamond's Knowable Domain, exerted through her power of probability manipulation that allows her to force order and predictability. AHA, by Elation, was also able to foil it.
Preservation
All the way back in Simulated Universe: Gold & Gears, specifically during Supreme Inorganic: Sanguine Condolences (III), we're told that Dongfang Qixing, the co-founder of the IPC, is capable of keeping things in control through omens--believed to be the visions or whispers of Terminus.
The means by which Terminus is likely traced can be discovered in the IPC Cuckoo Clock and the Broken Cuckoo Clock, which visually appear to be the same cuckoo clock. What both seem to imply is that this is the means by which the IPC tracked and possibly gathered divinations from Terminus, implying that the blessings of Finality alone aren't needed to achieve this. As this was done through Preservation.
The Hunt
During The Discreet Charm of a Streamer Girl, No AHA at Full Moon, Yaoguang confides in Sunday what would've happened if she would've donned the Supplicant's Mask: she would've become a "Nous" through the power of the Hunt, of the unique Spiritus she boasts, and locked in Planarcadia's doom. In doing so, it would've spelled unavoidable disaster.
Erudition
In the Simulated Universe: Unknowable Domain, Genius & Prophecy (II), the Erudition's "version" of the Solitary Waves Theory is the Circle of Knowledge. Within it, it governs what is knowable and what is unknown; in surpassing it in some way, new variables are introduced into the state of the cosmos via the new knowledge gained that can potentially lead to Finality if it becomes too chaotic, matching the Theory's difference between predetermined orderliness or chaotic disaster.
In Fu Xuan's relevant voicelines, she also ponders how gazing into the future in a manner matching the Erudition/Nous has the potential to lock in certain fates. Given how the Matrix was canonly inspired by Nous, it stands to reason that this also counts as Erudition.
Remembrance
Another prominent example was in the Myriad Celestia, Exotale: Scene 8, one of the possibilities was that Cyrene would utilize the power of Remembrance to freeze the universe before Irontomb could actualize and destroy it, completely stopping the flow of time so that it would remain frozen until the end of time.
In becoming the 4th Path that could've led the universe to Finality, this is another example of a Path altering the destiny of the cosmos.
Elio controlling the Script?
As noted in Cat Among Pigeons, The Devil in Velvet, Elio doesn't seem to actively control the script/fate so much as divine the future's many branches and choose pathways for the Stellaron Hunters (and Nameless) to follow for the best outcome. We see this detailed in the "bad endings" where Elio is credited as a Script Supervisor/Screenplay Director, and again in Exotale: Scene 8 that showed us a bad ending for Amphoreus he foresaw wherein Remembrance could've become the 4th Path in the Theory of the Four Apocalypses, a doomsday vision that informs much of HSR's current trajectory.
In The Generative Grammar of Liquid Modernity, So Laughed the Masses, the script being a be all, end all is completely debunked. Simply put, while Elio is an undoubtedly prolific seer, it completely nullifies the idea that he's capable of controlling anyone--let alone the Stellaron Hunters--through his scripts. What they are is a road map to achieve the best possible outcome for a given circumstance, not a locked destiny that controls the people it involves against their will.
Conclusion
To summarize, it's not impossible for Pathstriders of other Paths to potentially interfere with the predictions of Finality/Terminus, or for seers like Elio/the Omen Vanguards to be foiled simply because Terminus isn't the only way to see the future via Finality, as we've seen with Yaoguang and the Eye of Istvara or the IPC and their cuckoo clocks; let alone control destiny itself. Nevermind the fact that other modes can reliably foresee aspects of the future (such as Erudition (Nous) or through diviners of the other Paths (ex. Fu Xuan and her Omniscia (gifted by Nous)).
While seers like Elio are undeniably gifted, their foresight isn't absolute and, because of the Solitary Waves Theory, any Path has the potential to alter the fate of the cosmos at any time.
