[2.2] THE 4 PRAYERS CIRCLETS - Do They Foreshadow Genshin's Plot?
Originally tweeted on Nov. 19, 2021 (Version 2.2) https://twitter.com/celestiabyss/status/1461390916821069824
Celestia being secretive, people questioning the divine, the search for answers in "deep places", and other recurring themes - these are mentioned in the lore of 4 certain circlets that offer elemental resistances.
The 4 circlet sets are:
Prayers for Illumination
Prayers for Destiny
Prayers for Wisdom
Prayers to Springtime
The descriptions for each set are all pieces of the same puzzle: they seem to tell the story of ancient Teyvat and their ties with Celestia. Now let's dive in!
[Prayers for Illumination]
It seems that ancient Teyvat used to be in contact w/ Celestia, and used to be covered in "eternal ice" that begun to thaw. People could hear "revelations from the heavens" directly, and "envoys of the gods" were present. Who could be these envoys?
"It was a time of great prosperity, when all was left in the hands of such heavenly revelations."
The envoys said that "the world would soon enter a new and brighter age". The people wondered if these "wonderful times" might come to an end, but the envoys were silent about this.
Thus, the people chose a "chief priest" among them to search for answers in their behalf.
The chief priest was sent out into the "deep places of the world".
"To antediluvian ruins and long-buried altars of sacrifice, to seek answers and enlightenment..."
Going to ruins in search for answers...does this experience seem familiar to you? In our travels, we've consistently encountered mysterious underground ruins (Dragonspine, Tsurumi, etc.). Makes me wonder if underground areas will be endgame...
link to lia's original tweet: https://twitter.com/windflowerlia/status/1460683406388436993?s=20&t=J9U_xmonZdsMeiNcRw3ftQ
[Prayers for Destiny]
This circlet almost has the same story as Prayers for Illumination, but with extra stuff:
"elemental flows were smooth and well-ordered" (were the leylines ok in ancient times?)
"A hundred years of bounty were written in the stars..." (constellations?)
[Prayers for Wisdom]
This is where things get even more interesting! We now see the people questioning/challenging the Gods, and this is a recurring theme in Genshin (e.g. Khaenri'ah, Inazuma arc).
"Their prosperity brought pride and ambition, and the mind to question."
The people "questioned the heaven's authority, and schemed to enter the garden of gods." This angered the envoys of heaven, and the line that followed notably mentioned Eternity!
"For to question eternity was forbidden, For earth to challenge sky, inexpiable."
This makes me wonder if this is related to one of Ei's lines, "Only Eternity can bring us closer to the Heavenly Principles."
Witnessing the fall of Khaenri'ah, the death of Makoto, and other losses while purging "obstacles to progress" made her fear of loss even greater.
Ei then began to pursue Eternity, but hers is a "static" one (never-changing). She also gave up her Gnosis and cut off all ties with Celestia.
Although Ei's actions can be seen as rebellion against Celestia, she's not actively going against them. It seems more like "avoidance".
It also seems that Ei is "playing it safe". We still don't know what exactly are the Heavenly Principles, but to protect Inazuma, she's using Eternity to become closer to said principles. This is more like a "I don't want Inazuma to end up like Khaenri'ah" kind of situation.
The whole Celestia-getting-angry portion also reminds me of Dainsleif's lines about the Hydro Archon and the Tsaritsa from the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail.
Dainsleif said this about the Hydro Archon:
"The God of Justice lives for the spectacle of the courtroom, seeking to judge all other gods. But even she knows not to make an enemy of the divine."
This seems to be another hint that Celestia must not be angered.
Meanwhile, Dainsleif said this about the Tsaritsa:
"Her followers hope only to be on her side when the day of her rebellion against the divine comes at last."
In contrast to Ei, the Tsaritsa is actively going against Celestia (e.g. collecting the Gnoses).
But wait...the Tsaritsa doesn't seem to be the only one actively rebelling against Celestia right now. Yes we also have...the Abyss Twin!
"Until the Abyss has engulfed the thrones, my war with destiny will see no end..."
The Abyss Twin wants the Traveler to continue their journey and see the "true nature of this world".
It seems that for the Abyss Twin, reuniting can wait, and that "engulfing the thrones" is of urgent importance right now.
The Abyss Twin has already traveled Teyvat once, has more experience in Khaenri'ah, and is furious with Dainsleif for failing to protect Khaenri'ah. This seems to explain why they're siding with the Abyss.
Given that the Cataclysm happened 500 years ago, and that the Abyss Twin's pre-Cataclysm experience in Teyvat could be a lot different than the Traveler's experience now (factors such as differences in historical contexts and people they've met), I really wonder how the Abyss Twin concluded that the Traveler will also find the "true nature of this world" at the end of their journey, because their journey MIGHT BE different.
Unless...this is a case of "history repeats itself."
And with that, we move on to the lore of the last circlet!
[Prayers to Springtime pt. 1]
Like Prayers for Wisdom, Prayers to Springtime also mentions Eternity!
"All prosperity must someday end, But this does not mean that nothing is eternal. At the end of a cycle, the earth shall be renewed. Thus eternity is cyclical."
Eternity is cyclical...this is in contrast to Ei's "static eternity", but I speculate that "cyclical eternity" might be the new kind of eternity she will strive for.
In her story quest, Ei tries to think of a "new form of Eternity".
She realizes that while change is inevitable, there are also some things that don't change.
What could be a good way of showing that Eternity can CHANGE but can also be CONSTANT?
A CYCLE! It shows change AND repetition!
I've always wondered why Eternity was the 3rd ideal introduced to us. It was introduced so early, and the ideal itself is still Ei's WIP (work-in-progress).
But maybe this was intentional. Maybe like Ei's Eternity, our knowledge of Teyvat's possible cycle is still a WIP.
[Prayers to Springtime pt. 2]
It's interesting to see how the last paragraph of this circlet is the first paragraph of Prayers for Illumination. It now directly mentions Celestia, and once again mentions that the earth was covered in "unending ice".
Now that we've read the lore text of all 4 circlets, I want you all to read them in the same order:
Prayers for Illumination
Prayers for Destiny
Prayers for Wisdom
Prayers to Springtime
Does reading them feel like a cycle?
I also wonder if the "unending ice" symbolizes something...perhaps a major catastrophe/phenomenon?
For instance, we've learned of civilizations being wiped out (Khaenri'ah, Sal Vindagnyr, etc.). They're different civilizations, but I speculate that this stuff happens cyclically.
And now the ongoing question remains...what will happen to Teyvat this time?
What will everyone do? (Traveler, Abyss Twin, Archons, Fatui, etc.)
And whatever happens, what will be Celestia's response?
Is Teyvat truly stuck in a cycle of destruction and rebirth?
And that concludes the thread!
I apologize if the thread is messy and I'm just going in circles (pun intended). But I hope you've learned something from it!
There are topics related to this thread that I wanted to cover but I'm not that confident enough, especially when it comes to leyline, domain, and Dragonspine lore. So pls feel free to share your thoughts and link some stuff! I'd love to hear about other connections you've made between the 4 Prayers circlets and other pieces of lore! Thank you for reading!
[Supplementary vid for watching]
IslandXD released a video in early 2021 about the Cataclysm, and it also mentioned the Prayers Circlets!
Here's the link to the vid if u wanna watch it too: True Meaning of Cataclysm | Genshin Impact Theory EP.2
NOTE: Once again, this thread was originally tweeted in 2021! Some stuff here might already be outdated by the time you read them. This thread being transferred here on tumblr is for archiving purposes. It's for me to look back on how far Genshin lore and theories have come!