Tsaritsa, Childe, and Zarina. The Snezhnayans. Let’s go speak about Family, Love, and all of that jazz. Everything is based on my knowledge, my experience, and my speculation. It’s not canon. It’s just one Russian thinking about what can be and why some things make sense.
EDIT: Tartaglia in his Story Quest DOES admit that where he is from (Snezhnaya) - FAMILY COMES FIRST. Which just proves the majority of this to be a really solid basis.
What is an important thing in Russia that comes with customs, culture, and upbringing? Family. The ties you have to your family and to your home are something that make Russians known for their strong love for where they live. From someone who got to ask my parents and grandparents about ancestry and as someone who is personally analyzing the Russian history and culture from both internal and external views, I think that the reason for Russians to be known to so strongly go during wars even if they dislike their government is because of the family. People are protecting their memories, their home, their family - it’s one of the most important things we always learn since childhood through fairytales and stories.
Based on the fact that Snezhnaya is not today’s Russia (thankfully), I assume that it’s even more prevalent with more traditional outlook of tales that speak about how important family ties are, they are the center of many tales. They can be tragic, they can be beautiful, and they can be impactful. Russian literature examples of ‘family ties’ and ‘ties to your country’: War and Peace by Tolstoy, Taras Bulba by Gogol, take Pushkin fariytales, or a very well-known tale “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka” as well. Family and home, serving the country where you grew up. All of those themes are prevalent in many, many Russian stories, be they literature or mythology, but your upbringing and your family is something you will certainly remember in our culture. At least, from how I grew up and how I have seen my friends grow up, even if they were arguing with their parents and how they moved away, but they still speak warmly about their parents despite arguments and problems. Yes, we have our family dramas and such, we hate some people inside our families like normal people do because family drama, all of that jazz. However, your connection to your family and even your extended family can be especially strong. Once again, based on my experience, what I’ve read, and what I’ve seen. I DO NOT represent all Russians, just a reminder.
This importance of family in many Russian literatures and culture makes it obvious why Tartaglia/Childe/Ajax is such a dutiful older brother despite us seeing him as a “bloodthirsty” and battle-hungry man with a simple yet complicated viewpoint on things; he is a soldier, he is a warrior, he is a survivor and he is a protector. Many forget it, but Tartaglia/Childe/Ajax is first and foremost a PROTECTOR of his family from my view point based on how warmly he speaks about his family, his story quest only proved it. Based on his dialogue, he greatly treasures his family and it’s natural. Russians put family very, very highly. This is also why Zarina’s core value is FAMILY despite her being a villain as well, she grew up with that understanding and that environment.
Older siblings are often taught and told to protect their younger siblings, boys are told to protect their sisters and younger siblings when they grow up. As an older sibling, I was told to look after my younger siblings and my younger cousins, but when my brother got older, he was taught to protect me and his younger siblings as a boy as well. My father is a middle child and his older sister is a fighty woman, but he was always protecting her as well even if she didn’t ask because he cares. It is a traditional view, but we grow up thinking ‘it’s natural we’re going to protect each other, duh.’ However, it can also depend on families and it depends on upbringing. Not all families are like that, but it’s a thing that our parents teach us about since our childhood. For me, it’s natural to think of protecting my siblings, but I know that there are families which are not the same. It’s especially noticeable with how I’m living with a roommate who comes from a tough household. For me and my other roommate, who grew up in a culture where family is important, we are still shocked every time at how they talk to their parents and their siblings because we didn’t grow up in that environment. That’s why I underline how different it can be.
Many of the tales connected in the Russian stories are connected to LOVE as well, even the ones I mentioned. It’s especially saddening to think about Archon of Snezhnaya to be connected to ‘Love’ instead of anything else, but she has changed. Love is mentioned by Dainsleif in the introduction of all chapters, which makes me really sit back and wonder what exactly happened. There are many instances where LOVE is the main speech about Tsaritsa, even Tartaglia/Childe mentions how Tsaritsa had to steel her heart. It’s actually very tragic when you think about it because with how love and family are important in Russian culture, the fact that Tsaritsa is said to have no love for her people nor they have for her is like telling that Snezhnayans don’t have love left for their own home, it’s isolating and it’s sad. If we’re taking Zhongli as a representation of China, then Tsaritsa is the representation of Russia, which means that the important tie between people and their home is shattered. It’s tragic because of how Russians are known to love their country even if it’s tough and even if it sucks, but it’s not the government that they love, it’s where they grew up and were born in, it’s very different. But we’re seeing how Tsaritsa decided to go against the world itself, we’re seeing how she says:
Sorry… to also have you shoulder the grievances of the world.
Since you could endure my bitter cold, you must have the desire to burn?
Then, burn away the old world for me.
Based on these words, Tsaritsa is not ignorant of her people’s cries and she’s aware of how her actions are hurting those inside her country, but she decided to go forward with destroying the current world and to create a new one. This makes the fact that Tsaritsa’s core being “Love” even more tragic. It is my speculation, but I think that Tsaritsa is hurting inside more than we know and she might ask the Traveler to end her life to have the people of Snezhnaya move on without her because they already do not have the same love for her as before. I don’t think Tsaritsa herself has no love for her people, but I think it’s similar to how an empress cannot be weak or the country will fall, which makes her a tyrant or a despot. A Ruler in Snezhnaya/Russia cannot be weak, cannot be vulnerable, cannot be meek and soft. Catherine the Great loved her country and she loved her people, but that doesn’t excuse or abandon the things she’d done that made many lives miserable, the genocides and the forced move of native groups must not be forgotten. I see at as a similar viewpoint and a similar approach. Tsaritsa is approaching the ‘only result matters’ viewpoint at this time in the story, but it’s all a speculation, but it’d make sense with how she leads Fatui and how people are loyal to her (based only on Dain’s words, remember the bias exists and we don’t know how Snezhnaya actually is), Tsaritsa saw that the thing she wants as in the change of the world is more important than what she truly is, meaning that she is willing to destroy her core principle and her core itself to bring the new idea to life. And if it’s LOVE she sacrifices to make that happen? I find it tragic.
